Uncle Ted's Recipes #11: Porky Power Pasta

Ok so before we get into things I'd like to apologise for not having uploaded anything on this blog in quite some time but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and produce more content on all of my online platforms. Hopefully this is the start of something great but only time will tell but anyway...on with the recipe!

Today we're going to be taking a look at a recipe that I cooked up (pardon the pun) last week while trying to think of what to do with some leftover breakfast meats that I had left over from some fry up breakfasts that I'd made earlier in the week. I had some sausages and bacon leftover that I couldn't really think of any other days last week where I'd want to have them for breakfast so I decided to incorporate them into a nutritious dinner where their saltiness and meaty textures would be nicely complimented. So here we go with the recipe proper and let me know if you guys have any suggestions to change or add to the recipe in the comments below!

Utensils:
1 large iron or cast iron pot or saucepan
1 medium meat slicing or fillet knife
1 medium vegetable knife
1 large chopping board
1 draining sieve or colander
1 fork
1 teaspoon
1 or 2 baking tray(s)
a roll of tin foil (possibly optional)

Ingredients:
1 diced large brown onion
200-300g spinach already washed and drained
100-200g petite pois peas
2 diced medium vine ripe tomatoes
3-6 rashers smoky back bacon
4-6 pork sausages (either standard pork or possibly pork and sage or Cumberland)
700-750g wholegrain fusilli pasta
200-300g Dijon mustard
vegetable oil
salt
ground smoked paprika
dried basil

Cooking method/Cooking steps:

Step 1 - Starting heating the oven on the grill setting to 250C while filling the pan/pot halfway with water and a couple of medium splashes of oil and start heating to the midway point on the dial.

Step 2 - Cover a baking tray with tin foil and then pierce the sausages 2 or 3 times on each side before placing in the tray and baking for 15-16 minutes while turning over halfway through.

Step 3 - Bring the water to a boil and throw in all of the pasta with a few pinches of salt and basil while giving a stir with the fork. Boil the pasta for 10 minutes and stir every 2 minutes very briefly while it is cooking again with the fork.

Step 4 - About 5-6 minutes before the sausages are finished cooking, cover another baking tray with foil and place the bacon in it to bake in the oven, remove the bacon from the oven at roughly the same time as the sausages. Once the meats are cooked, take them onto a chopping board and dice up with the meat knife and place into a bowl on the side for the time being.

Step 5 - When the pasta is cooked, drain it in the colander in the sink but do not lower the heat on the pan. Instead, place the pan back onto the heat and throw in a few splashes of oil along with the onion, a few pinches of salt and stir frequently while it cooks for 5 minutes. After this point, add in a few teaspoons of smoked paprika and stir to mix before adding in the tomatoes and mixing while cooking for another 5 minutes.

Step 6 - throw all of the spinach into the pan and stir until it is all wilted before adding in another pinch of basil and the diced up meat. Stir to mix before throwing in the pasta and mixing that in as well while also turning the heat down to the lowest possible setting.

Step 7 - throw in all of the mustard into the pan and mix in and then leave to heat up for about 3-4 minutes before adding in and mixing in the peas then leave to heat gently for another 4 or so minutes.

Step 8 - Serve on a gently-warmed plate either as it is or with a very light garnishing on top of parmesan and fresh basil leaves. Recommend washing this dish down with either a glass of sparkling water or a fizzy Eurocentric beer like Stella Artois or San Miguel Fresca.

Uncle Ted's recipes #4: Hangover supremor sandwich

Ok look, as I'm writing this I'm hungover and tired and forgot to take a picture of the sandwich I made after I woke up and I'm sorry but I also don't really give a shit about that.  What I care about here is making sure that I don't completely conk out before going to bed today and imparting my recipe for this marvellous hangover-curing sandwich to all you peeps out there.  Keep in mind that this isn't a particularly healthy recipe but once you've gone through a whole night without sleep because of one too many jagerbombs keeping you awake along with several pints you probably, like myself, won't really care.  You could make it anyway if you don't drink alcohol but trust me, you do so at your cholesterols' own risk.

Ingredients:
3 x slices tiger loaf or wholemeal bread
4 x rashers Danish smoke-back bacon
2 x free range eggs
1 x knob of butter
10-12g chopped up chives
Ketchup & brown sauce (preferably Heinz ketchup and HP brown sauce)
50-100g shredded pre-cooked chicken

Utensils:
1 x medium frying pan
1 x sandwich toaster
1 x heat-resistant spatula
1 x plate
1 x roll tin foil
1 x medium baking tray
1 x greasing brush or if you don't have one then just have some greaseproof baking paper handy
1 x teaspoon
1 x toaster

Method:

Step 1: turn the oven onto 200-225C grill mode and line the baking tray with tin foil before turning the sandwich toaster on to get it warmed up.

Step 2: place the bacon onto the tray and grill until cooked well enough but not so much so that the fat draining off evaporates because we need the drained off fat for later.  Therefore, grill the bacon for perhaps 7.5 mins.

Step 3: turn on the frying pan with the knob of butter in and fry up both of the eggs while sprinkling the chives onto the eggs when you place them into the pan.  Just before the eggs start to brown on the bottom side, flip them over and cook for about 30-60 seconds on the topside.

Step 4: toast the slices of bread in the toaster for a very short about of time say 30 seconds for each slice before placing half of the bacon and one of the eggs on top of one of the slices with some brown sauce then put another slice on top then place the rest of the bacon and egg on top of that one with some ketchup.

Step 5: drizzle the bacon grease from the tin foil over the sandwich and press the shredded chicken into the topside and bottom-side of the sandwich as much as possible.  If this is too fiddly then just place proportionally within the sandwich itself before placing in the sandwich toaster to cook for 5 minutes.

Step 6: serve up with either a cup of Yorkshire tea or harsh black coffee with a couple of sugars in and some orange juice with a brunch bar and bunch of grapes for afterwards.

Now fuck off, I have to go nurse this hangover a bit more, I'm having potato waffles with sausage and peas for dinner so I should be alright.

Part of this recipe was influenced by ideas given to me by my good friend Chris (aka Ginge) and I must give him massive thanks for influencing this recipe.