Meatless Monday: Rigatoni ai peperoni

The saga of the sodden summer continues. The days have been filled with a dull kind of humid heat. And while the sun has poked itself out, inevitably i've found myself riding home from the train station in a late afternoon rainshower. Last week we even had hail.

All this unpredictability has made me keep the barbecue and briquettes covered until i'm sure they won't get soaked. Which means, when i buy bell peppers to grill on the barbecue so that i can make some antipasti, i have to end up doing something else with them.

I found this simple recipe in the book Twelve by Tessa Kiros. The August chapter mostly features exquisite photos of bright blue sunny clear days and lots of recipes for the barbecue. And it's got a good selection of recipes included peppers: this one, Pappardelle con melanzane e peperoni, Trota in forno con peperoni (i am definitely going to make this soon esp. with all the trout that's available right now), and Peperonata.

Rigatoni ai peperoni Serves 6
from Twelve by Tessa Kiros

2 medium sized red peppers
1 medium yellow pepper
4 Tbs olive oil
1 med red onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, skinned and pureed
handful freshly chopped parsley
500g rigatoni, penne or similar pasta
4 Tbs thick cream
6 basil leaves, roughly torn
120g freshly grated parmesan

1. cut peppers into small chunks


2. heat olve oil in large saucepan and add onion and garlic. sautee few minutes until softened, then add the tomatoes. when they begin to bubble up, add the peppers and half of the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. add about 250 ml water and simmer, covered for 30-40 minutes or until the capiscum is very soft. add a few more drops of water to prevent the sauce from drying out, if necessary.


3. meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil for the pasta.


4. remove the suacepan from the heat. puree haf of the peppers sauce and return to the saucepan, leaving the rest as they are. add cream and heat through.


5. cook the pasta in boiling water folowing the packet instructions. drain and quickly toss into the sauce. mix hrough the remaining chopped parsley and basil and serve immediately sprinkled with parmesan.

carluccios islington

so we headed to carluccios last nite in order to grab a bite to eat before heading to a play. ("duet for one" with juliet stevenson). mel was meeting me from work so i headed there pretty much on time to have a wee beer. i walked in and waited and waited and waited. not a good start. i eventually had to approach a member of staff myself to say i had a table booked. the surly waitress showed me to a table and then walked away without even asking if i wanted something to drink. pah!! nil points so far. however i had a quick look at the drinks menu and when she finally decided to haul her ass back to ask if i wanted a drink while waiting i scowled and ordered a peroni. mel turned up and we quickly checked out the winter menu and ordered the following. to start we shared an antipasto di verdure which contained marinated peppers, buffalo mozzarella, artichokes, olives, rocket, marinated aubergine and foccacia bread. all drizzled with olive oil. very very nice so no complaints there. next up was the mains: i opted for the lasagne and mel plumped for the penne with spinach balls and courgette. the lasagne was ok; it wasnt outstanding and kinda lacked oomff. mel said the same about her dish. i mean it wasnt bad but it didnt leave us ooh and ahhing. we ordered a bottle of the house red to go with meal after quaffing a glass of prosecco each with the starter. i also had a beer. total cost £54. would i go back? probably not. or i would maybe take somebody there who wasnt too bothered by what they ate.

clams with linguine

IMG_5929
Originally uploaded by silamuta

I made this recently as I was craving it and pictures and recipes were appearing everywhere. It was sooooo good the first night that I made it again the second night.

Clams with Linguine (you could also use spaghetti)

500g fresh clams.
(soaked in water for a few hours so that they get rid of the salt and grit)
a fistfull of pasta. (use yer noggin when measuring)
salt
garlic
chilli flakes or fresh chilli chopped
fresh parsley, finely chopped

cook pasta according to direction on packet
5 mins before pasta is done fry up 2 cloves of garlic, but dont brown it, in a glug of olive oil
add chilli flakes
add parsley and season
after 2 or 3 mins add clams, cover with lid and cook till clams open.
after a few mins discard any unopened clams.
drain and add pasta to clams and sauce.
serve and eat with love
enjoy!

osteria piero

Mel and I had tickets to see a Spanish movie, mataharis, which was showing at the GFT as part of the Glasgow film festival. True to form we decided to eat out first and Mel had spied a new Italian kid on the block on West Regent Street. We set off with our forks to hand. Joined on this outing with our friend Erick; an aspiring screen play writer and audio technician.

A very welcoming atmosphere awaits you when you walk in the bar area. We were quickly ushered to a table and promptly handed menus to mull over. We ordered a bottle of house wine from a well stocked wine list. Pretty much as soon as we sat down a plate of free tapas was brought to the table, with marinated anchovies, assorted olives and marinated peppers.

There is a rotating menu of specials. On the night we went there was pork filled tortellini in brodo, beef carpaccio, and trout. Our waiter also said they could prepare scallops and pasta or prawns and pasta. Also on the menu was 8 varieties of pizza --we didn't order but they looked appetising.

There was also something called l'orologia -- literally clock face -- platters of cured meats, cheeses or grilled vegetbales.

This is what we ordered:

• scallops and pasta: perfectly grilled scallops with angel hair pasta, dressed with olive oil, garlic and parsley


• l'orologia of cold cuts and cheese which comes with a free glass of prosecco: the star of the plate was Coppa


• tusan pork sausages stew with potatoes: a very hearty stew perfect for a cold winter's night


• prawns and pasta: this one came dressed with a light tomato sugo. the prawns were large and juicy


• ensalate caprese

Mel ordered the caprese and she reckoned that it was the best she has had yet in glasgow. We tried it and agreed. It was really fresh mozzarella di bufala, which, we were informed by the very helpful owner/manager is flown in twice a week. It was served on green tomatoes.

The manager/owner also explained that the restaurant is trying to stay true to the ingredients and seasons. He made us feel very welcome and was intrigued by Mels New York accent. She gets quite a kick outa saying she is from Springburn when they ask her where she is from.

All and all we felt very comfortable in the restaurant; almost like being in your own dining room with a bunch of friends. After the mains we were all too full for dessert which was a compact menu of tirimisu, meringue with ice cream and strawberries, italian ice cream with fruit salad, or lemon sorbet. Instead Mel topped it off with a perfect cup of double espresso.

dinner for 3 with 2 bottles of wine + espresso: £81

OSTERIA PIERO / 111 West Regent Street, Glasgow / 0141 248 3471 http://www.osteriapiero.co.uk/