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This 15 minute Pesto Pasta, is tasty, comforting and super simple to make and it is a perfect week night dish.
With normality set back in with the kids back at school, after school clubs all booked up and the nights getting darker earlier, the last thing you want to do is slave as soon as you get home in the kitchen after a long day at work.
I find prepping our meals weekly massively helps, if you can get a head start on yourself, then why not. I made my scrumptious pesto sauce yesterday, Sundays are perfect for getting a jump start on things I also use my Saturdays to make a meal plan for the week ahead, so by 11am on a Sunday I’m armed with my shopping list and I know exactly what I need when whizzing around, so I am in and out and I know exactly what I am spending as it is vital in this current market with the cost of living.
For Leanora and I there is nothing better than a big bowl of pasta, especially one that is garlicky and saucy, plus enough left over to pack for lunch the next day and slightly kissed with a sprinkle of chilli to add a little heat element, well in mine anyways.
It is pretty simple to make, especially as I’ve already made my pesto ahead of time, all I now need to do is boil on some water, pick out our pasta of choice, for this one I’ve chosen normal spaghetti, but it works great with mafalda or fusilli pasta as all that sauce gets right in to those grooves.
It’s not a super creative dish, but it sure is a damn delicious one that takes no time to rustle up and it is family favourite and a great warming winter dish and sometimes the simplest dishes are always the best.
And oh so good!
Ingredients
Pesto sauce
Pasta
Parmesan
Instructions
1. Heat a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil, once bubbling cook your pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 a cup of boiling salted water and drain pasta.
2. Place drained pasta back in to the pot, and add in your pesto sauce and some of the reserved pasta water to loosen things up to your liking. Once combined, serve up and tuck in.
Extra tip
Too add a little freshness, why not squeeze a little lemon over it and bigger bonus, grate some more extra parmesan and sprinkle a little chilli for a little heat. Enjoy!
For a another version of this, why not try my Kale Pesto Pasta? Let me know what you think in the comments below or share with me over on Instagram and use #LondonMummaEats
With the colder nights and heating on, there is no dish better to have to warm up your cockles like a big warming bowl of cheesy cottage pie and last week, I got up a little earlier than usual and made this ahead for our dinner, so all I really needed to do after a long day at work, following afterschool club activities I knew that Leanora and I were going to want a heart warming meal the minute we got home.
I made enough of this scrumptious cottage pie, to bring with me to work the next day and prepped the remaining half for dad too!! Scoring brownie points with dad, my birthday is coming up soon and I've got my eye on a few things, no matter how old I am you always gonna want a pressie from your parents lol! Nothing quite like cheesy meaty bribery an I right ha!
Ingredients
500 grams of beef mince
1 large onion
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp plain flour
150ml/5fl oz red wine
4 sprigs fresh thyme
300ml/14fl oz beef stock
100 grams of grated cheddar cheese
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 potatoes
115g/4oz butter
125ml/4½fl oz milk
Directions
Heat some oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the onion and cook until softened. Once cooked set aside on a plate.
Return the pan to the heat and add the mince and cook until browned all over. Stir in the cooked onion and add the tomato purée and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook for a further minute. Pour in the red wine, scraping up any caramelised bits with a wooden spoon, and add the fresh thyme.
Add the stock and simmer for 45 minutes. Season to taste, and add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and mix until combined and then take off the heat and pour in your cooked mince in to your oven proof pie dish and set aside to cool.
Preheat the grill to high.
Meanwhile, for the mash, put the potatoes in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 12–15 minutes, or until they are tender. Drain and return the potatoes to the pan, then place over the heat for about 1 minute to drive off any excess moisture. Mash well, then add the butter and milk, beating to form a smooth mash. Season to taste.
Spoon the mash over the top. Grill for 8–10 minutes, or until golden-brown.
No how easy was that! This dish, guaranteed will certainly warm up the coldest of hearts on the chilliest of nights
Don’t forget to follow for more tasty eats over on Instagram or by using the #LondonMummaEats tag, to show me what you are eating and made! And for more fun things to do check out our TikTok page!
Lindsey