Breakfast Pasta

This is a take on a classic cabonara pasta - and we've started calling it a 'breakfast pasta' as its central ingredients are bacon and egg. It's very un-italian to go savoury for breakfast but this really is the best of both worlds I say! We had this on our last morning at a great farm house in the Hunter Valley. I don't know why you don't see this more often on breakfast menus, as it really is simply bacon and eggs, but mixed through pasta instead of on toast! I lightly fried some lean bacon, just when the pasta was nearly cooked. Then once I drained the pasta, I added the beaten egg and bacon and stirred through til the hot pasta cooked the egg and was nice and creamy. Drizzled with olive oil, heaps of cracked pepper and I mixed through rocket and some chunks of roma tomatoes just before serving, to add some freshness. Who says you can't have pasta for breakfast!

Apple Berry Crumble

Hannah has been whipping up some great crumbles lately, going easy on the sugar and butter so not to make them too dangerous, and they are still just as delicious. Adding extra oats in the crumble mix hits the spot, but we couldn't resist scooping some vanilla ice-cream on top of this one! With a pot of mixed berry tea...a perfect winter dessert.

Curry Baked Snapper

Now we are in the middle of winter, we are craving warm, comfort food but trying to stay healthy at the same time - so satisfying those cravings can be tricky. But this dish tonight was delicious, comfort food, perfect for a chilly night. It came together in no time. I seared the snapper in a big wok, seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin and tumeric, then took it out of the wok and chucked it in a roasting tin. Then in the wok, I quickly whipped up a light tomato based curry sauce. Lightly fried, onions, garlic, ginger, red pepper, coriander stalks, chilli, tumeric, cumin, garam masala, a few cardarman pods and because this wasn't going to stew for ages, I chucked in some fish sauce, oyster sauce a cup of vegie stock to help it along. Then once that was all simmering nicely, I poured it over the fish and chucked it in the oven to stew for bout an hour. We had this with brown rice and a great refreshing, cucumber and mint salad Hannah whipped up with a great asian dressing and dry fried sesame and sunflower seeds! This was a memorable winters meal!

Sunday Spaghetti Marinara

Keeping with our Sunday pasta tradition, we were craving a rich tomatoey seafood pasta. We quickly chucked on a simple tomato sauce, with a mix of peeled and pasata. Just a heap of onions, garlic, parsley stems, diced carrot and thin slices of red pepper and a sprinkling of chilli flakes. As this simmered we jumped into the car and headed to nearby fish market in Marrickville off Sydenham Rd. We got a few handfuls of green prawns, baby calamari and a big fillet of gem fish. Stopping to pick up some fresh basil and some white wine on the way back. By the time the water boiled, the seafood, white wine and basil had flavoured the sauce beautifully! We had it with our new favourite spelt pasta and it was one of the best pastas we had eaten in ages!

Teriyaki Style Roasted Chicken

Hannah whipped this up recently with a marinade we had only used for grilling and barbecues, but I think roasting these chicken marylands in the formidable marinade of garlic, ginger, chilli, soy, honey, sesame oil and lemon juice was brought it to new heights! Served up with steamed choy sum and oyster sauce, on a bed of healthy brown rice. Good hearty healthy meal.

One-Pot Baked Snapper with Pine Nuts, Zucchini and Potatos

This is a great one pot dish that takes about 15 minutes to prepare and then you just let it do its thing.

I prepped the veggies first, thinly sliced potatoes and zucchini. I laid a bed of these on a roasting tin, row of taters, then zucchini, then again. Topped this with dill and diced tomato, salt and pepper and a good lug of extra virgin.

I scored the snapper on both sides, then rubbed it with a marinade of chopped parsley, garlic , anchovy and a splash of white wine. I then stuffed the cavity with the leftover marinade and placed it on a baking rack from the roasting dish. I placed the rack on top of the veg, then crumbled pine nuts on top of the fish, 4 dried chillies and seasoning. I then baked it at 180 for bout an hour.

The result was creamy delicious veggies with a tasty roasted snapper. Great winter meal!

Goats Cheese Tart with Rocket and Grape Tomatos

Hannah and I were craving a pizza , so looking in the fridge we discovered the ingredients for this unexpected winner.


We took a sheet of puff pastry from the freezer, let it go wobbly, then lightly score a square frame around the edges. Topped this with crumbled goats cheese (or any bitey creamy cheese you want really) , grated parmesan , grape tomatoes halved and scattered, pepper and and drizzle with olive oil. Throw in the oven for about 15 minutes until crispy and the cheese looking goey and golden. Top it with fresh rocket and it will disappear in minutes!